


Any Other Way

by nauticaas



Series: One Piece of a Dream [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Family, Friendship, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-24
Updated: 2014-03-24
Packaged: 2018-01-16 21:07:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1361824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nauticaas/pseuds/nauticaas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Birthdays in Granligna are always an adventure. AU.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Any Other Way

**Author's Note:**

> This is simply part of my scrap folder for a story that I may or may not begin to post when _Give and Take_ is completed. It's a Slice-of-life AU featuring our favorite pirate crew, sans actual piracy (maybe), living in the wonderful city of Granligna and trying to make their place in the world. And they're teens. Throw in some good old reincarnation!past-life!drama and you've got the gist of it, I guess.

Zoro clenched his jaw. His hands were balled up into fists inside his coat pockets, partly because they needed something to do, to some extent because of the cold, but mostly because this was just  _stupid_. He could feel his cheeks heating up, and when Sanji began to approach him his blush spread like wildfire across the back of his neck and ears. Alright, he could handle this like a mature adult, calm and tactful; he just had to take a deep breath and relax.

Sanji cleared his throat.

Zoro rounded on him and screamed like he had lost the last vestiges of his sanity. _"Shut up, bastard; I'm not lost!"_

Sanji stared at him coolly. "I didn't say anything."

He felt like his eyes were going to pop out of his skull. "You were  _going_  to…ugh, never mind, it's right around  _this_  corner for sure-" Zoro hauled him past the badly parked cars in the lot and turned the corner, giving his companion no chance to complain or protest. They found themselves on an old grey pier jutting out into the grey sea, its rotting boards slowly being coated in powdery snow from an equally grey sky. It was exactly  _not_  the place that he had spent the past hour searching for. Why the hell were they always moving everything around in this damned city?

"…and we're back at Jaya Wharf. Thank you, Magellan." The corners of his mouth threatened to curve into a smirk, but Sanji admirably kept his neutral façade up. "Forget it; we'll just ask for directions at the corner store across the street. Where are we going again?"

He traded his embarrassment for dismay; Sanji was starting to ask questions again. Clearing his throat nervously, Zoro cast his gaze around and ambled back up the side street, hoping that he could pretend he hadn't heard the last part. "Come on, it has to be around the  _next_  corner…"

"You said that at the last four intersections," Sanji sighed. "I'm going to ask for directions."

"You can't." The blond gave him an incredulous look, folding his arms over his chest as though waiting for an explanation. "I mean, we're so close-"

"Why can't you just tell me where the hell we're going, idiot?" Though he was glaring suspiciously at him, Sanji looked more awkward and bulky than intimidating bundled up in his heavy winter coat and scarf. "Let's just admit it; you're lost, I'm tired, and this would go a lot faster if we had directions."

Zoro frowned, wondering how grisly Nami's reaction would be if he just gave up right now. Then he thought about the others who were waiting hopefully for them at the "location" and grit his teeth. "I can't…it's supposed to be-"

"A surprise, I know." Sanji grinned at Zoro's startled expression, unable to hide his amusement anymore. "I gave Luffy half of my gas station burger on Skypiea Isle while you were trying to figure out how to get us back to the mainland. He sang like a canary."

" _Luffy_." He glanced around angrily for the damn little squealer. "Where did that idiot go?"

Luffy peered at Zoro from within the safe confines of Sanji's coat; _that_ explained why he was looking so bulky and strange. "You can't have him, Zoro. Sanji's  _my_  chef."

Sanji rolled his eyes. "I've told you time and time again, I'm just an  _apprentice_. You can't call me that."

"You weren't supposed to tell him, Luffy!" Zoro grasped desperately at his ragged composure and tried not to blow up at his friends again. Not today, of all days. _Come on, one more calming breath_. "That's the point of a surprise."

"But I didn't!" Luffy whined as Sanji pushed him out of his bundled cocoon and back into the cold air. "I just said that I think we forgot to get Usopp so he could help you find the 'location' sooner. I don't know where we're going either."

 _Oh_. Right, they didn't have faith in his ability to get Sanji to their meeting place on his own. "I told you that I can find it myself. Dammit, we must have taken a wrong turn at the brown sea gull with the ugly beak."

"That was a brown booby,  _Sula leucogaster,_ " Sanji stated matter-of-fact, ignoring Luffy's snort of laughter ("He said booby"). "Real sea gulls rarely head out that far into the sea, and they certainly aren't native to Granligna."

He shivered from the cold as he handed Luffy his coat, but there was a lightness in his smile that he got only when he talked about something he was really interested in, even if it was just stupid brown not-sea-gulls-with-ugly-beaks. Zoro decided right then and there that he was going to get these two idiots to the "location" even if they killed him for getting them lost again.

(Which he wasn't. Lost, that is.)

He turned them around and started quietly heading back to the train station, wondering if Kokoro would mind giving them a free ride back to  _Fishman's!_  Market so that he could retrace his steps and find the marine life center. They definitely didn't have enough for the fare anymore, not after Luffy swallowed down a half dozen burgers at the Upper Yard and gotten them kicked out by Messrs. Priest, Priest, Priest, and…yes, Priest. Sanji had barely scrounged up enough change to keep them from calling the police on them. This was not how he had expected their day to go.

Sanji seemed to have forgotten their troubles on Skypiea Isle and was already dedicating himself to teaching Luffy about the ways of life in the bitterest, coldest city on the coast. "I know things are different where you're from, Luffy, but here in the north layering is your friend."

"Layering is what you do to cakes to make them bigger and more fun, right?"

"…just keep moving; your legs are trembling again." Sanji sighed and tugged on his own sweater, trying to keep warm. "Honestly, you're wearing a T-shirt and shorts in the  _winter_. What were you thinking?"

"It's March," Luffy said patiently and squeezed his shoulder. "Seasons come in threes, Sanji. March is definitely a spring month."

Zoro pulled Luffy off of the fuming blond and dragged them into the station. "Give up; you'll never get through to him unless you use Luffy logic."

"I figured as much," Sanji growled, following the pair down the stairs to the subway. "Your precious Socrates probably never had to deal with Luffy logic in his classes."

"He did, actually. It went by the name of Plato." They shared an amused chuckle and watched Luffy bound toward the ticketmaster's booth to greet the cheerful old station master and pester her for tickets.

Zoro leaned against the turnstile and glanced at the train timetable above their heads to distract himself from his current dilemma. "Hey, you…are you angry?"

"Angry? Why would I be angry?" Sanji gave him an incredulous look. "What, because you got us lost? Because Luffy almost got us thrown into a holding cell before breakfast? Because Messrs. Priest-to-the-fourth-power are overdramatic jerks who would begrudge a couple of hungry kids some greasy burgers?"

He hoped that his frustration wasn't showing on his face. "It wasn't supposed to turn out like this."

"It turned out like this because I have the two best, most thoughtful friends who would do anything for me. Even if that meant dragging us six miles out to sea because one of them wanted to surprise me and couldn't afford to ask for directions in case I overheard, and the other tried to give me stale burgers when I was hungry and tired after skipping breakfast today." Sanji smiled crookedly and ducked his head. "You know I wouldn't want my birthday to turn out any other way, Mosshead."

Zoro smirked. "Your sensitive psyche is showing, Curlicue. I would blame that on it being your birthday, but I'd be lying."

"Oh, shut up, Aristotle. Just get us to the 'location', already; I'm having a distinct lack of Nami and Robin today, and that is just inexcusable."

He noticed that Sanji didn't stop smiling all the way back to the marketplace, even when Luffy spilled coffee on his coat's sleeve (or he probably just didn't notice yet).

* * *

"You got me a blindfold?" he joked, trying not to stumble into Zoro and Luffy again.

Sanji could almost  _hear_  Nami and Usopp roll their eyes, and he definitely heard Chopper giggle, but that was all forgotten and forgiven when Robin took him by the hand and led him carefully up the last few steps of the building and into a quiet corridor. "Dearest Robin, your gentle guidance is much appreciated. Now, if only I had the lovely Nami at my side as well…"

"Uh-huh, that's nice." Nami didn't sound like she was open to that idea, and he sighed in resignation and allowed himself to be guided away to…"Alright, what's the real surprise? I hear splashing and talking. You guys aren't going to throw me into the ocean again, are you?"

"In this weather?" Robin chuckled, releasing his wrist and stepping away, leaving him grasping at thin air. "We're not that cruel, Sanji…although I admit that was my first suggestion at the brainstorming brunch."

He didn't get a chance to react properly to that statement because a pair of hands came up to his face and tugged the blindfold loose. "Let's get this off you, Sanji." That was Usopp's voice.

"I can take it off?"

When Usopp okayed it, he pushed the cloth up and away from his eyes, and then his heart stopped. They were standing in a huge, circular room, surrounded by water on all sides. The walls were glass, from top to bottom, and they extended several stories high with twisting, winding staircases and pathways allowing people to view the fish on the other side of the glass from any one of various floors. Faint blue light seeped out from the huge tanks, setting an almost fantastical mood in the dark chamber. Sanji slowly looked at their surroundings with a guarded expression, twisting the blindfold in his hands anxiously. "An aquarium?"

Chopper looked confused at his reaction. "What's wrong, Sanji? Don't you like it?"

To their shock, he pressed a hand to his eyes and leaned against the wall. "You guys are so stupid," he chuckled weakly, burying his face in his hands. "I hate you, you dumb softies."

"Oh, no, please calm down," Brook said worriedly, flipping through the guidebook for a diversion. "Don't get upset. Look, they have some type of animal called the do…flay...nin-"

"That's  _dofleini_ , the giant octopus." Sanji looked up with a grin and stepped hesitantly back toward the center of the room, eyes searching the waters of the giant tank. "And look, there he is. Do you see the size of him; he's gorgeous!"

He seemed to remember himself and blushed, turning away with a sheepish smile to look at his friends, who were all waiting with bated breath for his conclusion on their choice of gift. "Who's idea was it?"

Nami elbowed Brook lightly, and he slowly raised his hand with an apologetic smile. "We can always go somewhere else if you want. I just thought…"

"I like it." Sanji rubbed his arm sheepishly, as though he was afraid to show too much enthusiasm in front of everyone. "Thank you, Brook…everyone. It means a lot to me."

Their relief was palpable; they had been unsure of how the young man from the Plains would react to this choice of venue. It had taken them months to convince him to come to Granligna's coast in the first place. Even nowadays he would still hesitate at the sight of the open sea when they headed to classes together.

Luffy threw his head back and laughed triumphantly. "Shishishi…alright, Sanji! Let's go look at those weird Buggy fish over there!"

"Those are  _clownfish_ , Luffy, and don't make fun of them! They're actually really important to those sea anemone. In fact, their symbiotic relationship is a type of-"

The others watched him drag Luffy away towards the clownfish darting about in the coral reef, ranting about the specifics of their relationship with the poisonous sea anemone, from their coevolution to their shared nutrients through excrement. Luffy looked thoroughly horrified after he was done, and he refused to go near them anymore.

Sanji looked back at them and herded them all over to the tanks, treating them to another round of education through enthusiastic, passionate lectures about the diverse species and creatures in the aquarium. He answered Robin's inquiry about the endangered and extinct species that had their own separate displays, showing her the fossils and records in the quieter, less trafficked parts of the aquarium. Nami's and Chopper's questions on the little seahorse colony on the other end of the room were met with a fresh wave of information ("yes, the males are technically pregnant, guys; stop laughing already"), though he never overwhelmed any of them with too much, instead preferring to let them observe the creatures while he provided narration and commentary as the occasion arose. No matter what the subject was, though he had never once been in here before, he always knew where to find the specific fish or creature in the giant tank, and none of their questions was left unresolved.

He made them come with him to the Petting rooms, where he managed to get Usopp to touch one of the sharks with him. "He's very calm, Usopp. He just  _looks_  grumpy. See, it's like petting Zoro."

Zoro glared at him from across the tank where he was holding Luffy back from leaning too far over the edge as he tried to touch the rays (all of whom did their best to stay away from the boy), and behind him the girls laughed lightly in agreement to Sanji's comment.

They explored the rest of the aquarium down to every last exhibit, from the jellyfish tanks to the marine mammals dome, though Sanji kept migrating back to the giant tank chamber, slowly trailing along the winding pathways set next to the walls of the tank. He couldn't seem to get enough of it, drinking in the sight of the myriad fishes gliding past him behind the glass. When the others had tiredly trudged to the gift shop, hungry and ready to leave, he reluctantly tore himself away and made his way down to the ground level.

Brook stopped him at the entrance to the store, a curious expression on his face. "Sanji, can I show you something?"

* * *

Laboon was the sweetest, most beautiful little baby he had ever seen, and he was already three times as long as Sanji was tall (Brook estimated that he weighed in at roughly over a ton). He pushed up onto the sloped ledge that they sat on, splashing them with icy cold water and making crooning sounds when Brook chuckled and petted his head. "Hello, Laboon. I brought a friend with me today."

Sanji held his hand out and waited patiently for Laboon to get comfortable enough to draw closer, and then the whale pressed his nose against his palm. "Hi, Laboon." He laughed as Laboon nuzzled him and tried to prod him into the water. "Oi, it's too cold for that!"

"Not today, Laboon," Brook said sternly, and the whale moaned softly but settled back down. "I promise we'll go in when it's warmer, okay? Oh, don't be sad; we can stay out here a little longer."

He rubbed the whale's sides and belly while he muttered affectionately to him, and Laboon's high squeals and chirrups soon filled the air along with their laughter.

"He's so beautiful, Brook." Sanji grinned and stroked the baby whale's smooth, dark skin. "How long have you been visiting him out here?"

"Almost a year, I think," Brook said, leaning back and glancing at the mammal exhibit only twenty meters away. "Laboon's under the aquarium's custody since he lost his mother last spring. I was one of the volunteers who found him hungry and abandoned off the coast of Reversi, and I've been helping take care of him ever since."

"Does he get enough to eat now?" Brook smiled; of course Sanji would ask about that.

"Yes, and he's very happy here with Crocus and the Rumbar Keepers. I always come back after classes a few times a week to help out too, when I can." He furrowed his brow slightly. "Sometimes I can't, and he worries."

Sanji noticed the faraway look in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah…sometimes, I feel like I've abandoned him, in my own way. It's silly, but during midterms, when I couldn't come down here, I thought to myself, 'I've done this before, and it broke his heart'."

He could understand that feeling. It was like he could remember something that he wasn't quite sure was real, but it clouded his emotions and made Zeff worry about him. "Like this is something we've done before, huh?"

Brook rested his head on Laboon's muzzle and nodded. "You looked really…I don't know, sad, like you were missing something. When you couldn't pull yourself away from the sea tank…"

Sanji was silent for a moment, playing with the whale's fins while he thought. "…I felt like I was looking at a piece of a dream from another time, and that this is the closest I'll ever get to it again. I don't know how to explain it…like, do you believe in past lives?"

He dropped his head into his hands and groaned. "Wow, that was so dumb. Forget I just said that."

Laboon whimpered and pushed himself against Sanji, nearly bowling him over in an attempt to comfort him. "Whoa! It's okay, Laboon; I'm fine."

Brook smiled and watched them play in the shallow waters, seemingly deep in thought. Finally, he cleared his throat and caught Sanji's attention again.

"I don't think it's dumb, for what it's worth."

Sanji looked up hopefully. "Really?"

He nodded somberly before letting a teasing smile spread across his face. "Then again, maybe we're one piece short of a treasure chest!"

Sanji pretended to grouse and complain about what an idiot he was, but in the end he dissolved into fits of laughter as well (neither of them could explain why they found that joke so hilarious, though they would insist that it was funny as hell, thank you very much).

They plodded back to the building to find the others after saying goodbye to Laboon and his keepers, promising to come back with Brook's violin and some good food (courtesy of Sanji) next time. Their clothes were heavy and cold with salt water, but they felt a lot lighter than before.

Brook's stomach grumbled.

And hungrier.

"We were thinking of going out to dinner with you," Brook said sheepishly, clutching a hand to his stomach. "Is there anywhere you wanted to go?"

"I was thinking of picking up some leftovers at the restaurant and then heading to Franky's to hang out for a while," Sanji admitted, knowing that their friend had been devastated when he was unable to come with them for the day's excursion.

"That actually sounds like a great idea! Franky is going to be thrilled!"

* * *

Luffy loved the idea so much that he couldn't wait for Nami to call; he tore off down the street towards the "Puffing Tom", the only train in the city that actually had a stop at the hospital, and the others were left to keep up with him to the best of their ability. Sanji separated from Brook and promised to meet them there after he picked up their food.

The staff at the Baratie swooped down on him like a pack of vultures on a rotting, ancient carcass ("You  _are_  getting old, squirt," Carne had laughed, ruffling his hair fondly), and they all insisted that he save some room for his birthday dinner later that evening after the restaurant closed. It took Sanji half an hour (and several noogies, bear hugs, and kisses…yeah, they were a close, affectionate family, one of those traditional kiss-on-each-cheek breed) to escape the horde of cooks, chefs, and waiters wishing him a happy birthday, and then he got caught by Zeff.

They stood on the landing between the ground floor and the second, awkwardly trying to go in for a brief, obligatory hug while maintaining their gruff, stoic relationship. Sanji finally said "fuck it" and threw his arms around the old geezer, who hugged him just as dearly as the others.

"You're growing up too fast, little Eggplant," he muttered warmly into his ear, making Sanji's eyes prickle and his throat clench. Despite that, he smiled weakly and nodded into his shoulder, letting himself relax in Zeff's warm, strong embrace.

When they pulled away, Zeff gave him a good thump across the head with his budget ledger. "And watch your damned mouth, brat; you're not too old for me to wash your mouth out with soap."

"Oi!" Sanji rubbed his head and glared at him petulantly. "Shit, that hurt, old man!"

He was smart enough not to stick around after that, changing quickly in his room before racing back into the kitchen to grab enough of the day's leftovers to satisfy all of his friends. The Baratie's cooks laughed out loud as they watched the owner chase his boy out with a round of very angry scolding and one thinly veiled "Happy Birthday, you little hooligan".

Sanji arrived at the hospital before the others did, which should have been surprising but actually wasn't; Luffy had a habit of dragging them all into the craziest misadventures, and so they often ended up going out of their way to help someone in trouble (usually by putting a whole different person in their place). He found Nami and Robin first, and the girls helped him sneak the food past the hospital staff up to the patients' rooms above.

Franky was ecstatic when they all arrived, well after visiting hours and laden with the city's best food and best cola, and he pulled Sanji into yet another rib-breaking birthday hug (how did someone who had been bedridden for months manage to squeeze the wind out of him?) before declaring all of them the best, most  _"Super!"_  friends that anyone could ever ask for. He then teared up and wouldn't let Sanji go for at least five minutes until Chopper warned him that his IV line was getting cut off, and so was Sanji's circulation.

"Seriously, you guys," he sniffled, burying his nose into the handkerchief that Robin procured from her pocket. "You guys are the best. Sanji, you're…you're  _beautiful_."

"Thank you," Sanji said, mouth agape. "Now, can we please  _eat_?"

Everyone burst into laughter and settled themselves around Franky's bed, sharing the containers of food with each other as they regaled their friend with the day's events at the aquarium. They made him promise to come with them next time, because he was such a jerk for leaving them hanging like that today.

"This time next year, we'll be sitting for dinner at the Baratie," Franky nodded, letting Luffy snatch away one of the boxes at his side. "I promise."

The bright, determined gleam in Franky's eyes was the best birthday present that he could have ever asked for. Smiling, Sanji leaned his shoulder against him and lost himself in the wildly ridiculous tales that Usopp was spinning for them, about a ragtag crew of wannabe pirates on the greatest ship to ever exist, sailing to the end of the world for treasure, dreams, and friendship, and about an ocean too beautiful and too impossible to exist (but it did, and they found it, because that was just the type of crew that they were).

"Maybe it had always been there, waiting for them," Usopp said in a low, reverent voice. "Or maybe they created it themselves by believing in it…but it was  _there_ , and it was  _perfect_."

 _It was all blue,_  Sanji thought to himself as Usopp spoke about the thousands, no, infinite number of fishes and creatures living there.  _It was all blue, and deep, and beautiful, and it was perfect…_


End file.
